Short-Duration Moong Crop Multiplies Farmer Income in Hoshangabad

 Farmers of Hoshangabad and nearby districts of Madhya Pradesh who have taken to growing a short-duration crop of moong (green gram) are seeing their profits grow significantly.

            Till last year, like in many parts of the country, fields of this area also remained fallow from April when wheat was harvested to June when kharif sowing began.  In 2012, farmers were encouraged to utilize these two months to grow amoong crop. Under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), farmers were given technical knowhow and support for buying quality seed, fertilizers and pesticides. 

The third crop in a year came as a boon to farmers by giving them a harvest that sells at high prices. In addition, it took just two months to grow. Scientists also told them that growing moong – a crop with the natural trait to fix atmospheric nitrogen into nitrates that can be used by plants - made their lands more fertile and would lead to better yields from the next crop.  Seeing this, other farmers were quick to adopt summer moong. The area under short-duration moongin Madhya Pradesh has gone up four times in one year, from 28 thousand hectares last year to about 1.35 lakh hectare this year.

Pulses production is being encouraged under the National Food Security Mission and the Accelerated PulsesProgramme (A3P). Because of these initiatives and increase in support prices over recent years, production of these protein-rich crops has increased from about 14.7 million tonne in 2009-10 to 18 million tonne now.
Courtesy: pib.nic.in (Press Information Bureau)